With the St. Catharines Club Roma Wolves roster still in a state of flux, Christian Carvajal was determined to make the best of his audition.

And the 21-year-old striker, playing his first game with Roma’s first division team, didn’t disappoint.

Although his name wasn’t on the scoresheet, his play led to the only goal of the game and he could have been part of a couple more as the Wolves ended their seven-game losing streak with a 1-0 win over Kingston FC in their Canadian Soccer League game at Roma Park.

And while the entire Wolves squad played a solid game, Carvajal was a standout — his orange fluorescent soccer shoes notwithstanding.

He forced Kingston defenders to keep up with him and was tenacious fighting for any loose ball within a five-yard radius.

In fact, his dogged play led to a Wolves free kick at the 21-minute mark of the first half, which was converted by Scott Maclennan for the only goal of the game.

“This is my first time starting (with the first team,” so it was really nice,” an excited Carvajal said after the game as his family and friends celebrated in the background. “There’s no better feeling than winning my first game as a CSL player.”

He said there’s a big difference between the CSL’s two divisions, but “It was a good, quick pace and I did enjoy it a lot.”

The give-no-quarter play also comes naturally to the speedy forward, who was often fouled by a very physical Kingston squad. He was aware that, indirectly, he helped out on Maclennan’s goal, but it’s all part of team play.

“I didn’t care much about chasing balls because I do it pretty well,” he said. “Doing that opens space on the field and that sort of thing.”

Born in Colombia and now living in Welland, Carvajal said it’s also a big plus that the two Roma teams train together, making the move from the second to the first team as seamless as possible.

“We’re all a big unit,” he said. “You can say there’s a first team, but we all train together.

“We try to succeed together.”

And they did just that, although head coach Carlo Arghittu had forgotten the result almost as soon as the final whistle went.

“It was one game, now have to worry about training and think about next game,” he said. “This one is history.

“We have to come out with the same mentality and drive (for the next game).”

He also couldn’t help but notice Carvajal had that mentality and drive this time around.

“He did well tonight. He moves around up front, he looks for the ball, he looks to get to the ball and he looks to get in behind defenders and score.

“We’re happy the way he played.”

Arghittu was also quick to point out it was a team effort, from beleaguered goalkeeper Claudio Perri on out.

“It was a battle from beginning to end and I’m proud of the boys,” he said, agreeing the defence recovered even after faltering a bit.

“We had to. We knew they were pressing for a goal and usually what happens is when they score one, they score two. We’re very fortunate that Claudio came up big, and Geoff (Attard) and (Matt) DiMaria.… The whole back line played very strong.”

In the first game of a Sunday doubleheader, the second team won its second in a row, defeating Kingston 4-1.

Fidan Nika had two goals for the Wolves and Florian Nika and Lennox Stevenson one each.